


Keep The Cold Outside (The Fire Is Warm, My Dear)

by shippingandrecieving



Category: Star Wars: Rebels
Genre: Amputee Kallus, Blind Kanan, Disabled Kanan, Kanan Lives, M/M, Married life on Lira San, Pictured: me, Zeb is a sweetheart who deserves every cuddle he gets, disabled kallus, mentions of all the Ghost crew, shoehorning in disabled rep into star wars one OC character and projection at a time
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-16
Updated: 2020-09-16
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:35:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,048
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26489539
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shippingandrecieving/pseuds/shippingandrecieving
Summary: "Dah-dee!" Their daughter admonished in a very good impersonation of her Auntie Hera, with her fists resting on her hips.Kallus' voice shuddered with his laughter."Alright." He lowered her back to the floor with a light kiss on her ear, and smiled at the way her toes stretched out ready to take her weight. "Go and fetch your scarf. It'll be cold, dear."
Relationships: Alexsandr Kallus/Garazeb "Zeb" Orrelios
Comments: 22
Kudos: 80





	Keep The Cold Outside (The Fire Is Warm, My Dear)

It was nearly midday when Alexsandr woke, nestled among the enticing softness of their bedsheets and the cocooning warmth of many, many blankets that were loathe to let him go. He sighed happily, wiggling against the circular mattress like a contented tooka on a rug before a roaring fireplace. 

Winter was thankfully short on the planet Lira San, lasting only three months out of its year. Crisp blankets of twinkling snow covered all the fields and roads, and all the well trodden paths were dotted with paw prints left behind by traveling adults and scampering kits at their heels.

Alexsandr sighed again, softly through his nose, and tilted his chin up to peer out of the tall window beside the bed and hummed lowly at the feel of a pillow that smelled wonderfully of his husband rubbing against his cheek.

The view outside almost reminded him of Lothal in it's own winter seasons; frost tinted rocky spires nestled among listing stalks of grass frozen in their places, all waiting for spring to come.

He resisted the urge to bury himself further beneath the sheets, as enticing as they were, and wriggled his leg free. _Best get up_...

Kallus sat himself up, sighing wistfully as the bundle of blankets he was hidden beneath slipped off his shoulders to pool down around his waist, exposing his pale and freckled skin to the chill of the room. Logically, he knew the room itself was warm, but since Bahryn keeping himself warm under his own body heat had been difficult.

Lacking basic heat retention hadn't been his only come away either, and Alexsandr reached down to pat the stump of his right thigh where it had been amputated to just above the old break. The tired old thing had served him well, from Yavin to Hoth to Endor and all the points between. It was well overdue that he started being kind back. 

Kallus rubbed his thumb above the pale scar and reached for his leg, propped up and waiting patiently at his bedside.

It was an intricately carved thing, crafted in equal parts from metal and wood with the natural definitions of both materials polished to a regal shine. Some nights, Garazeb would steal it away and engrave a new detail in whichever empty space he could find, flowers or moons, or simply idle patterns traced by his caring and dutiful hands. They had together modified a soft leather bracer to match the ones they had tied around the other's wrist at their _tinsad_ to envelope the limb's metal calf. The hexagonal filed grating wasn't sharp, but one should never be too careful around little and curious fingers.

Alexsandr scooted himself to sit on the edge of the circular mattress and slid his stump into the prosthetic's socket and fastened the buckle tight. He sighed, and rocked his metal knee lazily from side to side.

He was, of course, more than capable of donning his own prosthetic, however in recent mornings -the ones he woke at a respectable hour at least- had Alexsandr used to feeling a second set of four clawed hands smoothing reassurance over the freckled and scarred flesh of his thigh. And right then, same as every morning he woke without his husband at his side, he missed Garazeb's comforting kisses and the teasing scratch of his claws.

Alexsandr smiled, as he hadn't missed the sight of a clean set of comfortable clothes sat folded close by on a chair. It was too cold and indecent to roam the house in only his thermal undershorts. He bent forward at the waist to snag his fingers around the inviting pile of soft fabric and placed them at his hip on the mattress.

Kallus shook out and pulled on a thick pair of pajama leggings, loose enough for him to slip the foot of his metal-and-wood leg through easily and slid them as far up his legs as they could go while sitting.

He was still a little wobbly first thing in the morning but kept his balance with a hand resting gently on the surface of the bedside table. The waistband of his leggings had slipped a little further back towards his knees and he smirked, as that was where they ended up most mornings Zeb was around. 

He tugged them back up with a faint blush colouring his freckled cheeks, and scooped up one of Zeb's smaller shirts. Even so, it was loose enough to show a sliver of pale, freckled skin whichever way he arranged the collar of it. 

Captured movement in the mirror mounted against the wall drew his attention and, where before he would have sneered and turned away, Alexsandr turned to face himself with a warm smile and twinkling eyes.

Civilian life, and two -so far two- children had softened his middle and he poked at the pillowy and protective layer of fat over his belly. After years of being too thin and too cold he was a long way from complaining about it. Well, the cold still troubled him, but hypothermia does that to a man. He held warmth in the assurance that his _tinsana_ would keep the gnawing cold at bay, as his dearest Garazeb did every night within the safety of his arms.

He smiled a little wider, and pulled a short blanket off the bed to wrap around his shoulders as an improvised and comfortable shawl.

He limped forwards in his first few unsteady paces, still hampered by the cold, and scooped up his cane by it's handle. He was ashamed to use it once, then he realized he was being an idiot, as Garazeb was helpful enough to point out.

He palmed the grip, smiling at the way it settled comfortably within his hand, and tapped the foot of it against the floor.

It had been fashioned and carved for him especially by Aya, the young adult missing both his legs since lasan and now pouncing around the makeshift sparring ring with digitigrade prosthetics of a similar composition to his own, delicately measuring his hand -and being endearingly stumped by the odd number of fingers- to get the grip carved just right for him.

He smiled again, thinking of Aya and Yor, and ambled toward the door.

There was always warmth to be found on Lira San despite flurries of snow and an abundance of glassy icicles hanging from every window. Warmth came in the open heart of Zeb's people, though now -he supposed-, he was counted among them.

By the fingers of winter's chill, stairs had since become an obstacle but here in his own cozy and love filled home he could mount them at his own pace, such an odd thing after years of Imperial turbolifts and sprinting up and down and up again all the stone steps of the Massassi temple on Yavin IV.

Quiet mornings when he had the luxury of time, it was an odd feeling to see how much -or really too how little- their home had changed with two small children as part of their family. The sweet smell of warm milk wafted in from the kitchen and little claws had plucked free a few threads here and there from the many warm rugs that adorned the floors, the sort of ware that life led along hand in paw, as well as a few more Holo's to add to the wall.

It had become a little tradition of sorts, bidding a good morning on his way down, and later a good night with pleasant dreams as he stepped back up again, to all the family photos mounted along the wall that descended at head height with the stairs. _Good morning Jabba, causing trouble somewhere among the stars. Good morning Sabine, still covered in paint but with a new colour in your hair. Hello Jacen, dear boy, already up to my hip and kriff how they grow the moment one turns their head._

A soft and gentle smile tugged at Alexsandr's lips at the intelligible words floating up to greet him from below in his Garazeb's signature rumble, and the soft, higher pitched voice of their daughter with him.

He trailed the fingertips of his free hand down the wall as he went, brushing through the faint claw marks that a drunken Garazeb had scored in as they had stumbled up to bed many years ago. And his memory's faint echo of cheers from Ireeni and her sisters from the next house over.

Alexsandr hobbled into their kitchen, pausing to regain his breath at the bottom of the steps and cursed the season's cold that sapped his strength away. Well, he thought with a smirk, rolling his shoulders, Garazeb needed every advantage with their sparring matches as he was -of course- still winning.

A plate and a selection of sweetened bread and jams were laid out on the table ready for him. The jars of sticky sweet fruit had been preserved from the planet's harvest before the landscape had been thickened by snow. And, Alexsandr chuckled with a fond shake of his head that sent his messy pale ginger locks swaying, from the residual pink juice stains on the cutting board left out on the table, little fingers had stolen away with the last pieces of meiloorun Hera had brought them on her last visit.

"I'm here, loves!" Alexsandr called into the other room, where the crackle of the fire and eager purring could be heard. Despite his stomach's complaints, breakfast could wait until after greeting his family.

Zeb looked up with a bright smile at the sound of his mate's voice, finally awake, and paused in his cooing and hushing of their youngest. Svet was a small thing in his large and gentle hands; all blue fur and wide eyes and less than a season old. 

The little kit trilled and chirped, and reached to curl his claws around one of Zeb's fingers to test his needle teeth on the back of his father's knuckles, Svet's rattling purrs came so loud from a body still so small.

Talira was knelt up at the window, her face close enough to the frosty glass for her breath to puff fog against it. Her ears perked upright and she tore herself away at his call, leaving swiped little handprints to freckle the face of the window at her eye's height.

"Dad-dee, dad-dee!" She trilled, bouncing over eagerly as soon as he had stepped in and curled her claws around one of Kallus' fingers to tug him back toward the window. "Look dad-dee it's snowing!"

He chuckled and let himself be led over to peer out of the frosted glass. "So it is, my little love." 

He had perfected the art of lifting his daughter to rest on his hip one handed, perhaps a little bit of that Lasat dexterity had combined with his human tenacity and created something new and kind.

Up on his hip, Talira gasped, her little ears flicking, and waved with a giggle at the little Lasat girl about her age waving frantically back, visible through the aligning window of the next house. 

Kallus couldn't suppress his own laugh, though he muffled it against her short and tumbling hair to not wake little Svet. "I think someone wants to play. Do you want to go?"

"YES!" She smacked her hands over her mouth at the combined chuckling hushes from both her fathers. Her tufted ears folded and she rocked up in Alexsandr's grip to butt apologetically against his chin. "... _yes dad-dee, can I please go outside and play?_ " She whispered, as quietly as an excitable six year old could.

Kallus hummed thoughtfully, trying to quell the smirk tugging at the bow of his lips. He turned his pondering expression to Zeb, who tried his best to match it to keep the charade going. "What do you think, love?"

" _Dah-dee!_ " Their daughter admonished in a very good impersonation of her Auntie Hera, with her fists resting on her hips.

Kallus' voice shuddered with his laughter.

"Alright." He lowered her back to the floor with a light kiss on her ear, and smiled at the way her toes stretched out ready to take her weight. "Go and fetch your scarf. It'll be cold, dear."

Talira bounced away, giggling, her four toed paws thumping over the kitchen floor and up the stairs.

He chuckled again, as fatherhood had him prone to doing, and met Zeb's eyes across the distance between them.

His husband stood tall and proud, bared to the waist and cradling their tiny son against the thrumming warmth of his chest. Svet's sapphire blue fur mingled with Garazeb's lavender and dark striped just like the vividly coloured wildflowers that crept up the side of the house to bloom in the summer months. 

Zeb stepped to meet him in the middle, their lips connecting softly in their own embrace that, Alex hummed in enthusiastic merriment, tasted like berry syrup. Against his still parted lips, Zeb chuckled and pulled away to swipe his tongue over his lips, savouring the taste of him. And his breakfast.

Kallus shook his head with a low laugh and they both leaned back in to ruffle the thick hairs of their beards together sweetly as they did every morning, in a gentle greeting the way Lasat's do. Alexsandr's human senses may be far duller than those of his new people, but every so often he would catch the scent of his husband and smile.

"Good morning my heart." Alex purred into the dark fur at the base of the Lasat's ear, and gently brushed Svet's cheek with the back of his forefinger. "Hello there, little darling." He cooed with a smile at the intelligible happy noises the baby made at the sight of both of his fathers together.

Zeb laughed, low like thunder in the distance. " 'Good mornin', he says, waking up in the middle of the day."

Alexsandr shared his smile, and nuzzled his nose against Zeb's. "If it's before twelve o'clock, Garazeb my love, then it is _still_ the morning."

Zeb ducked to muffle his sharp bark of laughter into the soft, musky smelling skin of Kallus' neck. "That's more like it."

Little thumps of littler feet sounded their way back down the stairs, and they both turned to smile as their daughter bounded back into the room, the length of the knitted scarf haphazardly wound around her neck and shoulders trailing behind her like a hyperspace trail.

Kallus laughed softly, beckoning her forward. "Come here little love. You're going to hurt yourself running about like that." He chose to ignore Zeb's snort, and his husband adding another notch to his mental tally.

Talira blinked, suddenly serious, and reached to hold his cane as both of her father's freckled hands became occupied by untangling her scarf. She kept her short claws sheathed as she held it dutifully, as either father would his bo-rifle; even so young, she knew to be respectful. 

Alexsandr leaned down a little further to nuzzle reassurance into her hair, and rewrapped the warm knitted scarf around her neck and folded the trailing ends out of her way. 

"Thank you sweetheart." He purred behind one last gentle kiss, and accepted his walking stick back into the comfortable curl of his chilly fingers.

He tapped the foot of it against the floor with a smile that sundered into a gently teasing laugh, as Talira held entirely still with her ears flattened out to the sides, the perfect miniature of Garazeb whenever he woke feeling too off balance the odd morning.

"There's no need to fuss, treasure. Your father does that enough." Alexsandr stepped forward, closing the distance between him and his daughter once again and cupped the back of her head to brush his fingers softly through her hair.

She giggled, rubbing her brow into the softness of Kallus' stomach and, once again assured of his wellness, disentangled herself to dash towards the door.

"Ah, ah," Kallus called after her, "what are the rules, _ash'aki_?" 

She pulled up short, skidding a little on the rug. "Oh! I'm only to go as far as the village, an' I'll come back before the s-ss..?" Her ears flattened and she frowned.

Alexsandr's expression softened and he mouthed along with the rest of the only two rules they upheld in their house.

"S-sun is over the big tree." She almost glowed as bright as that setting sun at her father's praise at remembering.

"That's my girl. Have fun dear." 

Talira giggled and nodded, eager to pounce on her friends and likely lose the scarf until tomorrow, and rubbed her face against Zeb's legs. Garazeb adjusted his grip on their youngest kit and bent down to nuzzle his short nose into the back of her head.

"I love yer, _ni kyra_." Zeb rumbled. "Be careful."

"I will! B'bye dan-dan." 

Alexsandr walked her to the door, motioning with his free hand and a soft look for Garazeb to stay in the warmth with their littlest, and he hobbled along beside her bouncing steps.

Rila was waiting, hopping a hole through the closest snowdrift just beyond the steps leading to their house. The two girls squared up, poised in copied ready stances, then pounced at each other. They tussled, squeaking and laughing, and tumbled down into the snow.

Kallus chuckled again as he closed the door behind her, and resigned himself contentedly to the future prospect of mopping up little wet, snowy footprints.

His smile widened at the telltale loping gait of his husband stepping up behind him, and at the feel of one strong, warm arm wrapping around his middle. Alexsandr hummed, deep, contented, and throatily, and tipped his head back to rest on the broad expanse of Garazeb's shoulder.

Zeb hummed back, lilting and mischievous, and nudged his mate's cheek with his nose. Kallus turned his head with a smile. Their kisses were gentle things; born from soft breaths and the plush press of full lips meeting like the horizon and the dawn.

One freckled hand smoothed into the soft fur of Garazeb's cheek as Alexsandr curled one arm up to cup the side of the Lasat's head, and he moaned softly into the kiss, eager and happily reciprocal. 

He turned within his lover's embrace to wrap both arms around his shoulders, that likely beneath his handsomely striped fur, still held the bruises left behind by his fingertips from last night's pleasures.

"Yer limpin' again..." Zeb murmured, their breaths mingling in the space between them.

Kallus smiled and pulled away, capturing Zebs hand in his own to press a reverent kiss to the pad of his palm. "It's just the cold, Zeb. I feel alright."

"Are yer sure?" Zeb purred against his lips, sincerity and gentleness beneath the blanket of his teasing. "The fire's warm, and my hands're all yours."

He reached his free hand forward to grope and knead at the soft flesh of Alexsandr's waist.

Alex gasped, then chuckled breathily around a swallow. "Well, h-how can I refuse an offer like that."

He felt the light prick of Zeb's fangs against his lips as the Lasat grinned. "But breakfast first..."

Kallus laughed and backed up a half step. The only immunity the Lasat had against a impromptu sparring match was their baby held against his chest. "Incorrigible tease..."

Garazeb's ears flicked and his bright expression crinkled with the magnitude of his smile. "You don't mind the way I tease yer." He laughed aloud at the glare Alexsandr shot his way, all pout and equal teasing, but their playfulness didn't distract Zeb from how the other man was standing with more and more weight held only by his left leg.

"Sit down, ni ashkerra, the little 'un's missed yer. I'll fix yer a plate." 

Kallus' bare arms bridged the gap between them, and the human accepted their son into the protective curl of his arm's embrace. Garazeb departed into the kitchen with a kiss to his husband's brow and a soft rub of it against his own.

Alexsandr watched him go until the baby mewled within his arms.

"Hello _ashvyr'aki_ ," He said in a low, coaxing voice as he ducked to place a gentle kiss between the kit's ears, smiling as the velvety tips brushed against his cheeks.

Svet reached up with a happy purring trill and batted his paws at Alexsandr's nose, grabbing for the bridge of it and trying to tug his father's face closer. 

"Claw holes in all my shirts and teeth marks on my nose. Oh _Ashla_ , whatever will I do?" He chuckled, and leaned in to nose against Svet's cheek, snorting warm breath into his fur and grinning as their son hiccuped a giggle of his own.

"Alright, let's go." He bounced Svet to rest a little higher against his shoulder and began to carefully step his way over to the sofa sat waiting in front of the fire, circular and cradled by wicker fingers just like their bed, it's seat swathed with warm blankets and plush cushions. 

He sank down with a low hum of approval, the seat as inviting and warm as always, the blanket's arranged long enough to have soaked up the heat of the fire. Alexsandr shuffled backwards, getting comfortable, and reached to prop his cane up beside him against the arm.

Svet burbled and reached up to clumsily pat at his human father's ear, his little brow furrowing in concern as to why it wasn't flicking away like his _adan's_ did.

"What are you doing up there, little star?" He scooped the baby off his shoulder and cradled his tiny body once again against the softness of his chest and tickled the very tips of his fingers through the downy soft fluff that covered the full roundness of Svet's belly.

"Just look at you," he chuckled, smiling wider as the baby squirmed and squealed happily, grabbing for his fingers. "You're starting to look like me!"

He looked up and drew a deep, greedy inhale through his nose as Zeb returned with a laden plate and -more importantly- a brimmed and steaming mug of caf.

"Yer look as though I just saved yer from two hungry bonzami." The Lasat laughed, setting Alexsandr's breakfast down on the narrow table at his elbow.

"Well, pardon me for sleeping in until noon. You could have woken me, dear…" He admonished, gently teasing, and something warm turning the gold of his eyes into honey.

"Nah. I didn't have the heart to." Zeb perched himself at his husband's hip, and reached to tuck a few unruly locks of uncombed hair behind the human's ear. "Yer looked too peaceful."

They sat together in contentment and a companionable silence, with one large and softly furred hand resting and seeping warmth into Alexsandr's remaining knee, calm in the crackle of the fire and Svet's soft whistling purrs. Their idle peace was occasionally broken by the muffled crunch from Kallus' toast and an accompanying fit of giggles from both men.

Alexsandr laughed, and swept crumbs away from the corners of his mouth. " _Stop it!_ "

 _It_ , only served to have Zeb muffle his now wheezes with a fist jammed between his teeth.

Alexsandr stretched his leg out along the length of the seat and poked Zeb's hip with the metal knee. "Every time you do something exasperatingly foolish I'm reminded exactly why I love you." 

His words were scolding but his voice was soft. As soft as the disobedient, overgrown hair that swept across his brow along with the tip of his head as he fixed his adoring gaze with Zeb's. "You fool Lasat…"

_"Y-you fool Lasat!"_

_Words he had heard himself hoarsely shout through the manic thump of his heart within his own ears, with one shaking and balled up fist striking the Lasat in the chest as the threatening hum of generator coils echoed around them._

_Relief had stolen away with the vitriol in his scathing cry, and had instead left behind a voracious need to feel those soft, plush lips against his own. He still wasn't sure if he had said just so aloud, but it didn't matter because with the next beat of his heart he felt them press, full and warm and alive, against his own._

Garazeb smiled, a slow and infatuated thing, and leaned in to knock their brows together. "Yer daft, love. But yer mine…"

Kallus swiveled to scoop up his mug of caf, and settled back once more among the pillows, nursing the steaming mug of between his palm and his thigh before bringing it to his lips.

He hummed in throaty appreciation at the first hot gulp of caf warming him from the inside out, and the faint tremble of his chest had Svet snuggle in further, contented, as though his father were purring. The little kit snagged a mouthful of Kallus' shirt and began to suckle absently, kneading his tiny claws into the warm fabric and the steadily rising and falling chest beneath.

Alexsandr laughed softly, a private thing for only him and Garazeb. "Tali used to do that, do you remember? She's already so much like you, Zeb…" He rolled his golden head to the side to capture his husband within the depths of a soft and adoring look.

The Lasat chuckled, and reached to cup the back of the kit's head. "I bet'cha when Svet learns to talk, Coruscant is gonna come out'a his mouth."

Kallus' face lit up along with his hushed laughter, nose scrunched up, and he laid his caf warmed hand over the back of Zeb's at their son's head. "I'll match that bet, my dear."

Within the safety of their hands, Svet squeaked and mewled, butting his head back in clumsy affection.

"Now…" Garazeb purred, his hand smoothing higher up to rest on the welcome and newer thickness of Alexsandr's thigh. "I think I promised yer some soothin'?"

Kallus hummed, closing his eyes in a slow blink and a sultry smile twisting the bow of his lips upward at the corners. "You know, I do believe you did…"

Zeb closed his fingers around the seal of his husband's prosthetic and waited patiently for permission to go further. "Allow me, _ashkerra_."

Alexsander hummed around his mouthful of caf and rolled his eyes. "I'm not going to break from a single touch, Garazeb. Though all the same, I do trust you." He settled the mug beside his thigh and reached to tangled his warmed fingers with Zeb's. "Continue, please."

He released his hand with a parting squeeze, and Garazeb slipped his hands a little higher to the buckled closed just above the seal of his prosthetic, deftly unhooking the catch with the curl of a claw. 

He leaned in with a low and comforting purr to nuzzle sweetly at Kallus' cheek, smiling at his roughened gasp in response to one of his large hands smoothing around to cup the underside of what remained of his right thigh, and slid the prosthetic off. He gave his Alexsandr's thigh a deep, parting squeeze, and leaned a little further in to prop the metal and wood leg up against the arm of the sofa along with Alexsandr's cane.

Now with both hands free, Garazeb dove in and cupped Kallus' cheeks to nuzzle and scent him, and leave his mate chuckling as his freckled face was littered with soft lipped kisses until one strong hand pushed him back. He settled with one leg resting crossed over the thigh of his other, ears flicking, and gently cupped his husband's stump with both hands.

Kallus' head tipped backward and he hummed a tight lipped moan at Garazeb's first, lightest touches turning into pressure. "You do this too often for me, after all that I've…"

"Hey." Zeb cut him off gently, "No more of that. Besides, you comb my fur when it's too hot, so I'll rub yer cold aches away when they happen."

"You soothe my hurts no matter the weather, Garazeb." Alexsander mumbled, cracking open his golden eyes into slits, and the intense sincerity of his shining gaze was enough to steal Zeb's breath from his throat. "Don't deny it, my love, you know that you do."

Garazeb's voice was as gentle as the look in his eyes. "So d'you, Sasha."

The Lasat's large hands squeezed and spread their warmth through his thigh, his touch seeping deep enough to thaw the ice in the marrow of his bones and Alexsandr was steadily losing himself in the soft and rhythmic touch.

"O-oh, that...that does feel better..." Kallus sighed, settling back against the pillows. Within his arms, Svet yawned and burbled, and snagged his little claws into the knit of Kallus' shawl.

Zeb chuckled at the sight of them, as gentle as the snow outside was beginning to fall, as his mate's golden head began to droop.

"... _K-karabast_..." Alexsandr mumbled around a yawn. "You're going to send me to sleep if you keep going like that."

The Lasat's contented purr rumbled softer than the fur behind their son's ears.

"Well," Garazeb drawled, increasing the soothing pressure under his fingertips. "I'd say you've had more than yer share of sleepless nights fer the rebellion. How 'bout some sleep filled days."

"I-I might have to...concede your point...Garazeb, my love..."

Zeb laughed again, his purr thrumming a little louder, and leaned forward to nuzzle his flat nose into his mate's beard covered cheek. 

"Sleep, _ni ehirahn boosan_. I'll take care of everything." 

His mate didn't need much coaxing, as after a few more steady and slowing breaths, his limbs drooped as sleep took him in its gentle embrace.

Zeb settled the blanket over him, tucking in his mate and their kit among the soft folds. Alexsandr moaned softly as he dozed, snuggling within the cocooning warmth and keeping his protective grip on their baby, sapphire kitten down fanning beneath his fingers.

After seeing him clad so long in gloves, Garazeb had become fascinated by Alexsandr's naked hands. Many nights had been spent holding those very same and enchanting hands; when they shook with choking anxiety in Yavin's med bay, in the private safety of the night with linked fingers and the press of a mattress, and in the cool night air of Lira San as the man they belonged to slept peacefully at his side, and Garazeb traced his fingertips over stardust freckles and fine white scars.

He pressed the softness of his lips against the back of his Alexsandr's war weathered hand, and brushed his chin between Svet's velvet ears. The baby chirped and squirmed, his little light trills deepening into the slow, soft breaths of sleep.

He couldn't help himself, and neither did he want to, and ducked back in to nose gently at Alexsandr's cheek, drawing in a deep breath of his scent and stole himself one more feel of the softer hairs of the human's beard against his face. 

He gathered up his husband's empty plate and half drunk mug of caf with a small smile. After the self deprecating fuss Kallus had made when he had officially joined the rebellion, viewing food as a reward for working himself weak first (he had felt the same once after Lasan, why gorge yourself on food when you can drink the pain away instead, alcohol or caf) it was always a good feeling to see Alexsandr with an empty plate.

Garazeb fixed his mate with one last low rumble and a smile, complete with a joyful flick of his ears and padded softly into the kitchen to dump the plates in the sink with the others from earlier in the day.

He added the plate to the pile and began slowly filling up the sink with steaming water and thought of the narrow kitchen on the Ghost, and all the heated arguments with a younger Ezra about many teetering stacks of unwashed dishes piling up far too often. He snorted, as that at least had stayed the same as Ezra got older, and he absently watched the sudsy water rise higher.

His viridescent eyes flicked to the vidcomm sat on the kitchen table and his heart ached in a thornlike pang of longing. He could still easily recall the day and night cycles aboard the little freighter that had been his second home for so long, forgetting seemed to him a little like betrayal after everything they had been through and had been to each other.

Zeb shut off the tap, thumbed the call button and waited, gnawing on his lower lip in a little anxious gesture he had picked up along the way. He should just catch them before it became Jacen's bedtime. 

The Lasat had always rebelled a little against bedtime, having been sent, pouting, to bed by his grandmother as a staggletoothed kit eager for one more hold and a story, and by Hera when he needed some sense snapped back into him. That had changed since he had to take up the mantle of the responsible one.

After a few seconds the holo lit up and projected the smiling face of Hera.

"Zeb!" She cried in delight, her voice light and lilting around the music of her laughter and Jacen's intelligible voice yelling somewhere in the connection's background.

"Hey Hera," he laughed along, checking her local time again in a quick glance. "Havoc before bedtime, eh?"

"Something like that." Her lekku had slipped over her shoulders with her laughter and she flicked them back. She turned to smile at something to her right, her expression smoothing into gentleness, and she leaned forward to rest her delicate chin on her knuckles. "Kanan's had a good day today. Days like these, just being able to watch feels like that first victory against the Empire all over again."

Her eyes focused themselves on something far away. "When Kanan told me he can use the force to help him walk I wasn't sure I believed him at first. But he can see, in a sense, so I suppose I shouldn't be surprised by the things Jedi can do anymore." 

She still had one of her Jedi, but Ezra's loss had left a hole in her heart, and even in the happiest times she felt his absence sorely. Hera shook herself visibly and flashed him a small but honest smile.

Zeb poured all the love he could through his eyes and kissed her with a slow blink; he owed a lot to Hera and her insurmountable love. And her ability to be an ill tempered Lasat wrangler and a hardass. She deserved a galaxy's worth of love and affection right back. 

Zeb purred softly, and set the dish in the rack to dry. "That victory feelin'? Feels like that with Alex and the kits sometimes." He murmured in quiet agreement, feeling a warm and contented smile tug at his lips as he lost himself among memories of sunlight and laughter.

When he opened his eyes that he had no recollection of closing, Hera was still smiling at him, with happiness and warmth flowing from up from her heart and out through her springtime green eyes. She had always known, and love was no stranger to the heart of Hera Syndulla.

"How is he doing?"

"Good! Cold's still hurtin' him but he's okay. He didn't get outta bed until lunchtime, and-" he broke off with a short chuckle, "- he's nappin' with Svet now."

Hera snorted behind her fingers, a happier smile peeking past like shafted sunlight through cloud. "Heat cycles and hibernation? Are you sure Alex is human?"

"Only on the outside." Zeb laughed again, one ear flicking back at the squeak of a wet dishcloth swiping against a now clean plate. "That beard though, I think there must be a little Lasat in 'im."

"Probably a little more than most humans." Hera chuckled, a salacious and playful glint in her eyes.

She turned to grin at something to her side and the intelligible voices in the background of her feed sharpened into words and Kanan's hoverchair drifted into focus, the Jedi holding a giggling and squirming Jacen in his arms.

Kanan's easygoing laughter was a sound the Lasat had sorely missed, and Zeb's eyes lit up at the sound of it.

"Hey Kanan!" 

"Hey big guy!" The blind Jedi grinned, his voice only just audible over his and Hera's son's comm crackling shriek of 'Hullo uncle Zeb!' Hera grinned through a grimace, and lost herself again in the joyful tide of her own laughter. After a moment, she leaned across to rest her chin on Kanan's shoulder and whispered into his ear. The Jedi's shapely, dark brow twitched up.

"You're a bit bare for winter, Zeb." 

Zeb scoffed and rolled his eyes toward the ceiling. "I have _fur_ Kanan, an' it's warm in here."

Jacen wiggled forwards to peer into the camera, his heterochromatic eyes wide and shining. "Uncle Zeeeeb?" He shouted, still not used to reigning in his excitement and talking at a regular volume through a comm. "Where's uncle Sasha, and Lee-rah?"

Zeb chuckled fondly. "Uncle Sasha is having a nap with your little cousin, and Talira has gone out to play with her friend. I'll tell her you said 'hello', yeah? Oh!" His eyes lit up suddenly as he remembered. "She drew you a picture for when you visit next."

"She did! I did one too!" Jacen was almost vibrating with excitement, and behind his thick haired head, his parents shared a devoted look.

"You'll have to tell me all about it tomorrow, little rebel, it's getting late for you now." Zeb tried his hardest to put on his adamant uncle voice, but everyone in the galaxy knew that Jacen Syndulla-Jarrus had his every aunt, uncle, and far flung connected family-member-if-you-squint wrapped around his little fingers. 

Kanan rocked the little boy laid across his arms, his green tinted hair and socked feet bouncing in the air with the motion. "It's time to wrangle this little loth-wolf cub into bed, it's almost time for sleep."

"No it's nooooooot." The boy protested, giggling through his drawn out whine.

Zeb smiled, as Jacen was usually a good tempered kit who did as he was told when it was enforced -unlike that night. And when Jacen got an almost free reign on his bedtime when he was with his cousin Talira, well, not even the Ashla could urge those kits into bed at a sensible hour.

"Alright, little treasure of mine," Hera cooed, and accepted her son into the comfort of her lap, "time to settle down…" 

Jacen nestled his head against her chest and curled his knees up, burrowing in against her warmth. "Yes mama…" 

Beside them, Kanan smiled a soft and adoring smile, soaking up the radiating warmth of love and leaned forward to place a kiss into his son's hair.

After all their hurts and misery it had been an easy decision not to train their son as a Jedi, despite his affinity of making his toy Y-wings float, but steady lessons on how to control it seemed wise at the very least. None of that seemed to bother Jacen, as he was more than happy to listen, eyes as wide as moons, to Chirrut talk of everything and nothing, and ride around sat on Baze's shoulders. 

The slowly sinking sun stained the sky with stripes of vivid pink and orange, and the light that shafted in through the tall window illuminated the room and Garazeb's fur the same captivating hues. The Lasat's ears flicked in contentment, as despite the season's chill, enough warmth seeped through with the sun's light to leave a pleasant tingle on his skin beneath the matching stripes in his fur.

"It is time for bed now, Jacen." Hera said with a kiss to her son's hair, capturing Zeb's wandering attention, as the boy in her lap was slowly drifting off to sleep. "Say goodnight, _keella_."

"Guh-night uncle Zeb..." He mumbled around a wide yawn.

Garazeb purred thickly and by the way Jacen grinned around a gasp, showing off his missing juvenile front teeth, he was able to hear it. "G'night cub."

He curled his fingers in a little wave that an infant Jacen used to copy and grab for, and after one final moment of his family smiling and content, the screen flicked to starless black.

It always gave him a moment of sadness, to be so far away, but their family would never be apart no matter how many stars stood between them. He shook himself, fur ruffling, and gave the empty screen one last fond look.

There was nothing else to do but wait, and in the warmth and peace of his home he was content to do so.

The thick carpets that adorned their home muffled the heavy steps of his loping gait as he padded back into the main room where his Alexsandr slept and sat himself by the fire, lounging back and listening to his husband's soft snores and the crackle of the hearth. Garazeb stretched his legs out in front of the grate, spreading his toes and soaking up the heat.

He couldn't suppress, and neither did he want to, the soft and rumbling purr that chased the cold back towards the windows and away from his family. The purr stuttered in his throat and both of his feline ears pricked up at a new sound approaching and he hauled himself back up to his feet.

Little steps -just as the sun hit the top of the trees, just like she promised- padded up the wooden steps that led up to their door and into the warmth stumbled Talira, covered ears to toes in snow.

Zeb laughed, stifled only just by his palm, and he shook out a spare blanket with the hand not clamped over his mouth.

"Look at you!" Zeb laughed, wrapping her in it's protective softness and lifting her up to curl in his arms. His daughter giggled, and flicked ice off of her lilac tufted ears. Her little trilling purrs thrummed through her ribs and against Garazeb's heart. He tightened his grip, holding her closer, and rubbed his bearded chin between her splayed and chilly ears. 

"He'o dan-dan!" She squirmed in the warmth of her father's arms to butt against his chin affectionately. She grinned, peering up from under Garazeb's beard and flashed her little fangs. "Rila pushed me down the hill!" 

Zeb rolled his eyes in fondness, and leaned his head back just far enough to rub the corner of the blanket over the top of her head. "And did you push Rila back?" 

"Nuh-uh! I pushed Ros and he holded my hand." Rila Tavum and her brother Ros were his daughter's twin shadows; wherever she went, Ireeni's kits went too. 

Talira shook her head, dislodging clumps of snow and sent them scattering around Zeb's feet. "There were so many feetprints, we went and followed them-!" She broke off with a sudden gasp. "Dad-dee's asleep!" She hissed, wriggling one arm free to point over Zeb's shoulder.

Her smile faltered a little and she peered uncertainty back up into Zeb's eyes. "Is dad-dee okay?" 

Garazeb smiled gently, and rubbed his chin over her brow with a reassuring purr. "He's alright, little heart. Just sleepy today."

Talira blinked, her little brow furrowed in thought. She was now at that age where kit's pointed out the obvious things others thought to overlook. "If dad-dee sleeps all day, he won' sleep all night…"

Zeb hummed in throaty agreement, and set her down slowly. "Best go wake him up then, _ni kyra_."

She nodded decisively and padded her way quietly across the thick carpet, the blanket still over her shoulders dropping to the floor at her heels like a Jedi's cloak, and reached to curl her fingers as far around her human father's as she could get them, and rubbed her forehead against his arm with a little rumbling purr.

Alexsandr stirred with a soft noise and a stretch.

"Hh-mmmmm..?" He blinked his bleary honey-gold eyes open and reached to stroke his daughter's hair. "Hello sweetheart, 's it sunset already?"

"Hm-hm." Talira nodded, scrambling up to burrow under the warmth of his chin.

"Oh!" Alexsandr cried with a jolt, and bundled his blanket around her too. "Oh, you're cold!" 

Talira laughed from where she remained curled in her father's arms, her lavender tufted ears flicking. "It _is_ winter, dad-dee."

Between them, Svet mewled and complained at being woken. "Hush, little one…" Alexsandr cooed, rubbing his back gently.

"S'rry Svet!" Talira purred quietly, leaning in to gently press her cheek against the back of his head.

Alexsandr ducked to place a soft kiss on her ear. "What shall we do tonight, my dear?"

"Uuuuuhm…" Talira's ears flattened to the sides in thought then flicked upright as her expression suddenly brightened. "Read to me!" 

"Read to you?" Alexsandr kissed her lavender furred cheek with a smile. "Well, go pick out a book then, off you go!" He coaxed, helping her wiggle her way back to the floor and she dashed into the kitchen and up the stairs once again.

Zeb leaned on the arch of the door shaking a bottle of warmed milk in one large hand and he smiled around a little laugh as their kit squirmed and wailed in Alexsandr's arms. "Yep, it's dinner time fer you, _ashvyr'aki_."

Zeb leaned in to kiss Alexsandr on the soft, freckled skin beside his eye, and passed the bottle into his waiting hand.

Svet's hungry wail turned into a happy squeal and he wiggled forward to mouth for the end of the bottle.

"Not so fast, little star," Alexsandr chuckled, rocking their son gently when he settled back down to lay still, "not so fast…"

Svet cooed little nonsense noises around the end of the bottle, pawing at it with his tiny clawed hands and gripped Kallus' forearm with his feet.

"I've got muh book, dad-dee!" Talira called from the top of the stairs.

Alex turned to smile up at his husband and Zeb butted their foreheads together in gentle affection, and he reached to take Svet into the warm safety of his arms. 

The little kit didn't cry as the bottle was pulled away, or as he was settled somewhere else. He just watched with bright, curious eyes and reached upwards with his clawed little hands to curl into the thicker hair of Zeb's beard and cheeped as his father scented him protectively.

Their daughter appeared in the arch of the doorway, heralded by the light thumps of her paws, and she bounced on her toes excitedly holding a small picture book against her chest.

She flattened her ears playfully and lowered herself into a slight crouch, then pounced her way across the room in an exaggerated copy of Zeb's rocking walk.

"What?" Zeb twisted to look at her, one tooth pointing up past his lower lip as he smiled. Alexsandr was no aid to his confusion as he was bent forward almost double and alternating between wheezing laughter and loud pufferpig snorts. "Wha's she doin'?"

"Nothing dear!" He managed to gasp over the sound of Talira's manic giggling.

Kallus turned, biting his lower lip to stifle his laughter, to swing his leg over the seat of the sofa and shuffled to sit against the back of it, still nested comfortably among blankets and pillows.

"Alright." He chuckled, sobering up most of the way. "Up you come, little light."

He bent forward at the waist and pulled her up to sit in the nest of his lap.

Talira folded her legs beneath her as she settled, and wiggled back against the solid warmth of her human father, tangling them both within the blanket. He ducked to place a kiss between her ears. She squirmed happily with a little throaty trill and held out the corner of the blanket to Zeb. The Lasat responded with his own chest deep rumbling purr and butted his chin against her brow.

Their daughter snuggled in further against Alexsandr's chest and reached to hold the backs of her father's freckled hands, ready to turn the pages.

Alexsandr kissed the top of her head and cleared his throat.

"A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away…"

**Author's Note:**

> Mmmooorrreee of Anath's beautiful Lasana (you are a literary angel)
> 
> Tinsad/Tinsana - binding and bondmate (wedding if you will)  
> Ni kyra- little claw, something you'd coo to a little one  
> Adan/ dan-dan- father/ daddy  
> Ni ehirahn boosan- my golden warrior   
> Ashvyr'aki- little star  
> Ash'aki- little light
> 
> Gotta sprinkle in some Ryl too and Keella is darling


End file.
